The Principle of Economy: a Joint Statement U.S. Theological Consultation, 1976

1. Members of the Orthodox-Roman Catholic
Bilateral Consultation in the United States, having met
since 1965, have examined openly, in a spirit of Christian
faith and fraternal charity, a wide spectrum of theological
questions judged to be crucial for mutual understanding
between our two churches.

2. One topic which has been discussed
with particular interest, especially during 1975 and 1976,
has been oikonomia or ecclesiastical "economy."
Because of the possible relevance of economy to the question
of mutual recognition of churches, this topic, which has
been important for the Orthodox, has received increasing
attention among Anglicans and Roman Catholics in recent
years.

3. In its discussion of economy the Consultation
considered an introductory report prepared in 1971 by the
Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission for the forthcoming
Great Council of the Orthodox Church. Some Orthodox and
Roman Catholic members were dissatisfied with the interpretation
it gave to certain texts and historical incidents but found
it a useful beginning for further discussion.

4. Our investigation has shown:

a. The wealth of meanings which economy
has had over the centuries;

b. Some weaknesses in recent presentations
of economy;

c. The significance of economy for
our ongoing ecumenical discussion.

5. At the most basic level, the Greek
word oikonomia
means management, arrangement, or determination in the strictly
literal sense. A few overtones add to this basic meaning.
Oikonomia may
imply accommodation, prudent adaptation of means to an end,
diplomacy and strategy and even dissimulation and the "pious
lie." Butoikonomia can also have highly positive connotations.
It suggests the idea of stewardship, of management on behalf
of another, on behalf of a superior.

6. In the New Testament the word oikonomia
occurs nine times: Luke 16:2, 3, 4; 1 Corinthians 9:17;
Ephesians 1:10, 3:2; 3:9; Colossians 1:25, and 1 Timothy
1:4. In the Parable of the Steward, Luke 16, the word refers
generically to stewardship, house management. In other New
Testament usages such as Ephesians 3:9, the word is used
to refer to God's purpose or prothesis,
the economy of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created
all things.

Also in Ephesians 1:8-10 we read that
God "has made known to us in all wisdom and insight
the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which
he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time
(oikonomian tou pleromatos
ton kairon) to unite all things in him, things in
heaven and things on earth." This usage is closely
related to the patristic idea that in and through his person
the incarnate and risen Christ brings to fulfillment all
of creation (anakephalaiosis).
The Pauline corpus of letters uses oikonomia
to refer to Paul's own ministry or pastoral office to make
the word of God fully known.

7. These New Testament usages of oikonomia
are further expanded by the fathers' understanding as summarized
by the Interorthodox Preparatory Commission's report which
states:

Apart from the meaning which concerns
us here, the term oikonomia
also denotes the divine purpose of prothesis (Eph. 1:10,
3:9-11), the mode of existence of the one Godhead in Trinity
through mutual indwelling (perichoresis),
its broad action in the world through the church, divine
providence, the savior's incarnation, the whole redeeming
work of our Lord Jesus Christ and all the operations through
which human nature was made manifest in the Son, from
the time of his incarnation to his ascension into heaven.

God is seen as arranging all for the
purpose of man's salvation and eternal well-being; and man
fashioned in the image and likeness of God is viewed as
being called to imitate this divine activity.

8. The word oikonomia
later acquired additional uses in ecclesiastical contexts,
in particular:

a. The administration of penance, the
arranging or managing of a penitent's reconciliation to
the church;

b. The reception of those turning to
the church from heresy or schism;

c. The restoration of repentant clergy
and the reception of heretical or schismatic clergy as
ordained.

In all these areas, however, the understanding
of economy as responsible stewardship, imitating the divine
economy, is maintained, excluding arbitrariness or capriciousness.

9. Recent presentations of economy often
have included the following elements:

a. Economy understood as a departure
from or suspension of strict application (akribeia)
of the church's canons and disciplinary norms, in many
respects analogous to the West's dispensation.

b. Economy applied not only to canon
law and church discipline, but to the sacraments as well.
In this context, it has been argued, for example that
all nonOrthodox sacraments, from the point of view of
strictness, are null and void but that the Orthodox Church
can, by economy, treat non-Orthodox sacraments as valid.
These views imply that the application of economy to the
sacraments may vary according to circumstances, including
such pastoral considerations as the attitude of the non-Orthodox
group toward Orthodoxy, the well-being of the Orthodox
flock, and the ultimate salvation of the person or groups
that contemplate entering Orthodoxy.

10. These recent interpretations do not,
in the judgment of the Consultation, do justice to the genuine
whole tradition underlying the concept and practice of economy.
The church of Christ is not a legalistic system whereby
every prescription has identical importance, especially
when ancient canons do not directly address contemporary
issues. Nor can the application of economy make something
invalid to be valid, or what is valid to be invalid. Because
the risen Christ has entrusted to the church a stewardship
of prudence and freedom to listen to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit about today's problems of church unity, a proper
understanding of economy involves the exercise of spiritual
discernment.

We hope and pray therefore that our churches
can come to discern in each other the same faith, that they
can come to recognize each other as sister churches celebrating
the same sacraments, and thus enter into full ecclesial
communion.